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  “Good man. Did you wear the dress I loaned you?”

  Gigi didn’t bother to stifle her snicker. “You’ve got to be kidding. I want to be taken seriously, but that doesn’t mean I have to dress like Marian the Librarian.” They’d had this same conversation the night before. “I won’t pretend to be something I’m not,” Gigi reiterated. “So, I like to wear clothes that fit my curves? Just because I don’t disguise my breasts doesn’t mean I’m a sleaze.”

  “I know, but the men you worked for in the past didn’t seem to understand the difference,” Heidi said. “I’d hoped you might give the new guys time to build up some fashion tolerance.”

  “No, they’ll get used to the real me a lot faster this way.”

  Heidi laughed. “Okay, I give. So, are there some fantastic fringe benefits working for the school?”

  Although Gigi was sure that her small-business-owner friend was talking about insurance, paid holidays and things of a more practical nature, Sean Fitzgerald’s handsome face flashed in her mind.

  “Well—”

  “Uh-oh, I know that tone. I thought you said he didn’t seem interested. And I know your taste in men doesn’t include guys old enough to be your father.”

  “Not him. I met another guy in his office before the interview started. And unless someone expects me to work blindfolded, I’m going to drink him in like a strawberry daiquiri.”

  “Gigi—you promised. No more dating guys from work. You go on a few dates, realize they’re not the one and then you have to quit because they aren’t satisfied with keeping your relationship platonic.”

  “I have no intention of getting involved with anyone here. As a matter of fact, I’ve decided to take a hiatus from men altogether.”

  “Uh-huh.” Heidi sounded skeptical, and she had a right to be.

  Gigi had dated at least a dozen men and gone through five jobs in the last two years. But this time she was determined to stick to her guns. She would not get involved with anyone until she was settled in her new job, and even then, that wouldn’t include Sean Fitzgerald or anyone else from the school. “No law against looking, and that’s all I’m going to do. Look.”

  Her declaration was met with silence.

  “Really. It would be impossible not to, Heidi.”

  “That cute, huh?” Heidi’s tough-love facade began to crack.

  “Ooh, baby.” Gigi leaned her head back against the lumpy vinyl headrest and closed her eyes. “Killer smile, sun-streaked blond hair, blue eyes, and downright drool-worthy muscles.”

  “Did you happen to get a name to go with this perfect male specimen?”

  “Why? Are you already bored with Rafe?” she teased. Heidi had just married the man of her dreams, and Gigi had never seen her friend happier.

  “You know better. I’d just like to know if this Adonis is real or a figment of your imagination. Oh God, he’s not a student, is he?”

  Gigi laughed. “Give me a little credit here. He’s definitely of age and most definitely real. As a matter of fact, it would make my job a lot easier if he was imagined.” She swept the pad of her thumb over her fingertips, recalling the spark of electricity she’d felt when Sean had taken her hand. “I’ll be more productive if he isn’t in and out of the athletic office too often.”

  “Does he have to be? Who is this guy?”

  “I think it’s probably a safe bet that the head football coach is in the office on a regular basis.” She didn’t dare admit she was already looking forward to that possibility.

  “Did you say head football coach?”

  “I did. Sean Fitzgerald is his name. Do you know him?” An unexplainable flicker of jealousy made her sit tall.

  “Yes. I told you about him, remember? He brought his car into the garage a few weeks ago. It was beautiful and pristine—a sixty-three, split-window Corvette.”

  Gigi dropped her phone, all feelings of jealously forgotten. Her head slowly turned until she faced the black sports car as, in slow motion, she blindly groped around the floorboard.

  “Gigi? Are you there?” Heidi’s voice finally broke through to her consciousness.

  She grasped her phone and raised it back to her ear. “This sensational car, was it black?” Her voice wasn’t much more than a squeak.

  “Yes. Why, did you see it when you were there?” Heidi sounded giddy at the possibility.

  “Maybe...” Gigi hoped that by some miracle this was just a similar car. Again she twisted to her left, looking for some feature that might identify the neighboring car as someone else’s. “Did this car have a weird thingy going down the middle of the back window?”

  “Yes, that’s the split window. Oh, Gigi, isn’t it just perfect?”

  Suddenly queasy, her gaze flicked between her bright yellow junker and the Corvette. Her forehead dropped to rest against the steering wheel.

  “It was.”

  Chapter Three

  The glow of a white paper fluttering under his windshield wiper drew Sean’s attention when he reached the parking lot. He almost swallowed his tongue when he saw Gigi Thompson’s name, phone number and the words CALL ME written across the top. When they’d met earlier she hadn’t shown any outward sign of being interested, but here she was, already issuing an invitation and supplying her phone number. True, he hadn’t been able to get the sexy redhead out of his thought, but damn, this was the closest thing to torture he could imagine.

  He unlocked the driver’s door, carefully set his duffle on the passenger seat and studied the note again. Large, bold letters with sweeping curves. Handwriting as hard to ignore as the woman.

  Call me. Sean’s fingers itched to yank his cell phone out of his bag and follow orders. But right after he’d been hired, Al had given him a ten-minute speech on the unprofessionalism of intra-office romances. He’d wondered where the hell that had come from until he’d heard about the “big scandal” from Fred Cook, the basketball coach.

  Seems last year, Sean’s predecessor had become romantically involved with the varsity cheerleading advisor and she’d gotten pregnant. Problem was, both of them were already married and the woman’s husband had undergone a vasectomy after their last kid, so he knew she’d been unfaithful. The whole thing had blown up last spring. Two messy divorces, enraged parents, confused kids.

  Glad I wasn’t around during all that. It hadn’t totally blown over either. Al had reiterated the same basic message this afternoon. He’d gone out of his way to stop by the field to tell Sean and his assistant coaches that Gigi would be starting in the athletic office tomorrow. If anyone gave her more than a glance, they’d have Al breathing down their necks. Asking her out would be as suicidal to his career.

  Shit. He adjusted the crotch of his sweats, then ran both hands through his hair. He hadn’t had a decent date since he’d gotten to Ohio and sorely missed the steady diet of sex he’d enjoyed before the move. George, his elderly next-door neighbor, had mentioned fixing him up with his niece, but after hearing she lived in the hills of the neighboring county and carved sculptures with chainsaws, Sean had politely declined. Heidi had looked promising until Joe Rafferty had called and said they were engaged, of all things. Tina Lewis, his realtor’s daughter, although pretty, had spent their entire date talking about her six “kitty-cats.” He wasn’t scoring, and unfortunately, neither was his football team.

  Sean folded the paper and stuffed it inside an exterior pocket of his bag. He started his car and smiled to himself at the low rumble of the engine. Turning on the lights and pulling out of the parking lot, he headed home. Along the commute, he wondered at his continued bad luck.

  Must be payback time for something really shitty I did.

  Just when he had to concentrate his focus like never before, totally sexy but off-limits Gigi Thompson lets him know she’s interested. Double shit. In that red suit and heels, man oh man. He shifted in his seat.

  She radiated an aura of eroticism that seemed instinctive rather than calculated. And, he suspected, impossible t
o mask. Even dressed in a nun’s habit, Gigi Thompson could make a man grovel.

  Had Al not given her the same speech about the taboos of intra-office dating? And, if he had, what the hell was she thinking, tucking her number under his windshield wiper?

  Sean passed the city limits sign and accelerated, trying to restrict his speed to only ten above the limit. As desperately as he wanted to call her, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Although his libido was screaming, “She wants you, big guy,” his job had to be first priority. His free time was going to be filled with writing lesson plans, formulating game plans, grading papers and babysitting Butch Turnell.

  Shit, shit and shit.

  “Hello.” His dick twitched at the deep and seductive voice.

  Sean, fresh from the shower and dressed only in a pair of drawstring cotton lounge pants, opened the front door wider. Gigi Thompson stood on his porch. Taking his movement as the invitation it was, she silently made her way inside, continuing through the hallway and toward the living room. Afraid that if he spoke she might disappear, he wordlessly closed the door and followed her. Her hips swayed under her belted trench coat, and the clicking of her black stiletto heels on the hardwood floors echoed the ticking of the antique schoolhouse clock on the wall.

  She crossed to the middle of the room and turned to face him. “Yesterday, when we met, I knew I had to have you.” Gigi raked her gaze slowly down his body, and his dick immediately tented against the cotton of his pants.

  “Well, here I am.” He took two predatory steps toward her and stopped, mimicking the visual examination she’d given him. The khaki coat, with its closed lapels, covered her from neck to shins. “Aren’t you a little warm in that?”

  Her glossy red lips formed a seductive smile. “As a matter of fact, I am.” She pulled her hands out of the deep pockets.

  He took another step forward and stopped, into this game as much as she. “So why don’t you get rid of it?”

  Gigi slowly untied the fabric belt, parted the plackets and let the garment slide off her shoulders. Underneath, she wore only a translucent red bra and panties. “I got the feeling you liked red.”

  Oh, yeah. Her form-fitting red suit and heels had been the sexiest interview ensemble he’d ever seen. “I’m liking red more and more each day.” Sean closed the distance between them, never releasing her gaze. When he raised one hand to brush her pebbled nipple, she closed her eyes and sighed.

  This was going to be fun. “There is one other color I prefer, though.” She slowly opened her eyes and before she could ask, he supplied the answer. “Buff. Now, strip.”

  Her big green eyes glistened with desire. “Anything you say.”

  “Oh, I’m counting on it.” Sean had never been so self-assured. His dick was stiff but, enjoying the delay, he held himself in check. “First the bra.”

  She reached behind her back and unhooked it, then dropped her hands. With a smile that was part temptress and part pixie, she shrugged her shoulders forward, and the bra dropped between their feet. Her breasts appeared extra full on such a petite body, but he estimated them to be the size of two large peaches. Round, succulent handfuls.

  Without his gaze leaving her breasts, he said. “Good girl. Now the panties.”

  Her thumbs hooked the sides of her panties and she slid them down her thighs. Sean suppressed a growl as he watched her breasts jiggle when she bent. She let go of the tiny scrap of sheer red fabric, and it dropped to her feet. Then she straightened, stepped out of the circle of fabric and nudged it away.

  And there she stood, naked save for her black heels. The two of them were so close he could smell her arousal. But other than that one brush of her nipple, he had yet to touch her.

  He hoped she liked it hard and fast because his control wouldn’t hold if he attempted to go slow.

  “Aren’t you going to touch me? Please, Sean, I’ll do anything you say. I want to feel your hands on me.” Her lips formed a sexy pout.

  “Not a problem. But first, I want your hands on me.”

  She raised her hands to his chest.

  “Lower.” He was being a selfish bastard but, he didn’t care. When her hand slid down the front of his torso and into his pants, he gritted his teeth behind closed lips. She took his engorged dick in her fist and he almost howled. With her other hand, she loosened the string at his waist and pushed the pants down over his hips. They dropped to his ankles. Then her free hand cupped his balls.

  Shit. It had been too long. Any more foreplay was going to have to wait.

  “Put your arms around my neck.” His demanding tone was normally reserved for his players, but Gigi had been the reason he’d lain awake and half aroused. He was too far gone with lust to play nice.

  He took her mouth in a ravenous kiss as she complied. He thrust his tongue between her parted lips and grabbed her sweet ass, lifting her to fit against him. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he stepped out of his discarded pants and walked far enough to press her against the bare wall.

  Gigi moaned into his mouth, and her nails dug into his flesh. She appeared just as lost to passion as he was. Thank God. Next time he’d make it slow and easy, in a bed.

  He positioned himself at her opening and—

  BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP—

  What the hell?

  Sean sat straight up in bed, utterly confused. Why he wasn’t pounding into Gigi Thompson against his living room wall? Reality forced its way into his brain, as shrill as a referee’s whistle.

  The annoying beep stopped, and Sean recognized the clatter of metal garbage cans as they bounced against the tailgate of the garbage truck, and again when they were set carelessly back at the curb.

  Fuck. He’d been dreaming. His dick was granite hard, and making love to Gigi had only been in his subconscious. What little sleep he’d gotten had been filled with X-rated thoughts of her. Much like his waking hours since they’d met.

  Double fuck. He turned to check the time, knowing there was no way he’d be able to get back to sleep. But when he saw the digital readout, all lingering drowsiness vanished.

  He’d overslept by thirty minutes. He couldn’t remember turning off his alarm, but he must have. Jumping out of bed, he quickly calculated that he had five minutes to get out the door. He ran to the bathroom and cranked the shower on full cold, hoping, above all else, that this day got better instead of worse.

  “How much?” Gigi asked as she stood out in front of her apartment.

  Under the yellow hood, Heidi and Rafe gave each other skeptical looks. “It’s time to put this old nag out of her misery,” Rafe finally said. Closing the hood, Heidi concurred with a nod.

  “I don’t have money for a new car. Can’t you just patch her up like we always do?”

  “Not this time,” Heidi said. “You know we wouldn’t charge you for labor, but we’re talking some serious money for parts this time. This baby just isn’t worth it.”

  “Too bad somebody didn’t hit you,” Rafe said, “so an insurance company could total it out. Then you’d have a little cash to put down on something else.”

  Gigi glanced at her watch. “Yeah, too bad.” She wasn’t going to miss driving around in a mobile mustard jar, but the timing of this morning’s breakdown sucked.

  “Listen, I can’t be late on my first day. Can you guys give me a lift?”

  Heidi pulled a set of keys out of the pocket of her jeans and handed them to Gigi.

  “Rafe followed me here so you could take my car. When you called and said your car wouldn’t start, I had a sneaking suspicion this time the old girl was a goner.”

  “Thanks.” Gigi gave her friend a quick hug. “I’ll call you during lunch and we can talk about what I’m going to do for transportation.”

  “You’ll use my car as long as you need to. Now get going.”

  There was no time to argue, and Heidi was already headed to Rafe’s pickup. Gigi gave them another quick wave and took off. It was a good thing she’d tried to leave early to grab a b
ox of donuts for the office. Car trouble excuses on your first day—even if they were true—didn’t cut it.

  She let out a breath of relief when she pulled into the parking lot with a three-minute buffer. Then her location brought Sean’s Corvette to mind.

  He hadn’t called about the ding in his door. She’d been too busy screening her former boss’s calls to give the mishap another thought last might. Sean had probably been busy himself, with whatever it is football coaches do, and simply planned on getting her insurance information today.

  She hoped he wasn’t too angry. If he was half as gaga over that car as Heidi was, it could get ugly.

  Chapter Four

  Sean shoved half a Pop-Tart into his mouth and took the turn into the school’s parking lot too fast, garnering appreciative cheers from a group of boys cutting across the grass. His hair was still wet, his socks were stuffed in his pants pocket and first period started in ten minutes.

  He pulled into one of the few remaining parking spots, grabbed his duffle bag and backpack and sprinted toward the building. There was no time to go to his office or mailbox. Just as well. He needed more time before he came face-to-face with Gigi. After that dream this morning, Sean didn’t know how the hell he was going to turn her down.

  “Miss Thompson, this is Fred Cook, our varsity basketball coach.” Al Matthews gestured to the tall, bottle-shaped man standing in the open doorway of the athletic department office.

  Gigi greeted Fred politely, inviting him to call her by her first name, all the while trying not to gape at his ill-fitting toupee.

  “Welcome to the athletic department, Gigi,” Fred said with way too much enthusiasm. His palm was sweaty when they shook hands.

  Okay, so maybe Heidi was right about building up the men’s fashion tolerance. Today, Gigi had chosen a light-weight, V-necked sweater to complement her brown leather skirt and boots. Yes, it was form-fitting, but Al hadn’t reacted as if her outfit was inappropriate. Fred’s gaze, however, had zeroed in on her breasts and remained fixed.